Lacrima Lunae
by Onua Wingstar
Summary: One-shot. Jounouchi goes for a late-night walk on the beach and meets someone unexpected. (KJxSK) Light SHOUNEN-AI, angsty undertones.


Author's Note ~   
  
Well, this is my first published Yuugioh fic. I'd love to know what everyone thinks of it, so review and I'll be your friend forever! I don't know how people will react to my style of writing...the two Harry Potter stories I wrote seemed to confuse readers a bit (at least one of them did). I often emphasize the characters themselves and let their emotions run the story, rather than using heavy action. This is mostly because the fandoms I write the most fics for (Harry Potter, Yuugioh...) star characters with a great deal of complex emotion behind them. (Yes, those who have only seen the English dub of Yuugioh may not agree, but trust me - it's one loaded show.) Anyway, I personally think this one could be better, but give me your feedback.  
  
Warnings~  
  
This story contains light shounen-ai (m/m), and mentions of abuse. I will not tolerate flames concerning objective content, as you have been clearly warned.   
  
Disclaimer~  
  
I own nothing of the Yuugioh title; it all belongs to the great Kazuki Takahashi and company.   
  
*******************************  
  
Lacrima Lunae  
  
By Onua Wingstar  
  
He didn't visit the beach very often any more: seldom was he able to slip away from his father's apartment unnoticed and walk the few miles to get there. When he was younger he came all the time, especially treasuring the hours he spent with his younger sister. But now his sister now lived far away with his mother, and his father was...not the beach type. When his father had started drinking shortly before the divorce, its sandy shore had become a refuge - a quiet haven he could run to when the storm became too fierce to bear. He returned there now to see a bright full moon rising over the ocean, casting its slivery light on the dark water.  
  
As he walked along scuffing up tufts of sand he reminisced about the last time he had been here under a full moon. It had been with his sister the night before she left to live with their mother.  
  
~~~  
  
"Onichan - I wish I didn't have to leave!"  
  
"I do too, sis. But think; it's for the best. I'd die before I saw dad hurt you."  
  
"I know, Onichan, but it still hurts - in here," she motioned to her heart.  
  
"You know what? Don't even think of it as if I'm leaving. Because I'm not! I'll always be with you."  
  
"Thank you...Onichan."  
  
~~~  
  
He sighed and gave a hard kick to a particularly large clump of sand. It sprayed into his face and he coughed, spitting out the coarse grain on the ground. Life was like that sometimes - no matter how hard you give it what you think it deserves, it always whacks you right back.  
  
He continued his walk, though slower now, lost in thought.  
  
***  
  
He didn't visit the beach very often any more: his hectic schedule between school, taking care of an energetic younger brother, and running a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company left little leisure time of any kind. But he still came occasionally, late at night, to sit under the stars and try to remember what it was to be human. When he was younger - much younger - his real parents had taken him here, and later, after his mother had died in childbirth, his father had taken him and Mokuba.  
  
But after he was adopted by Gozaburo, there was never any time to even think about the beach. Endless nights of studying, martial arts training, and still more studying left him constantly ready to collapse. When he had finally taken over the company and was free from his cruel stepfather, the pressing responsibility of running Kaiba Corporation full time had become his day and night. He was thankful for these rare, precious moments when he could let himself go limp and just look up at the moon with no one to bother him or question him.  
  
Tonight he sat at his favorite spot: a pure white strip of sand just before a rocky sandbar rose out of the water in front of him and stretched out into the low tide. All those years ago he would come to this spot with Mokuba and they would walk out onto the sandbar collecting shells and trying to spot colorful fish in the crystal blue water. He sighed and leaned back onto the soft sand, thinking.  
  
***  
  
As he walked along, he spotted a figure lying on the sand some distance ahead of him.  
  
'Who could possibly be here at this hour?' he thought. All the other occasions on which he had come so late the beach had always been completely empty. But here was this person, a dark blotch against the moonlit shore.  
  
He made to walk farther up the beach, as to go around the person, when he noticed who it was.  
  
"Kaiba," he growled softly. What on earth was *he* doing here?  
  
He "hmf"-ed and continued on, deliberately taking twice his usual stride. He stopped, however, when he heard a voice behind him.  
  
"Hello, mutt." Katsuya Jonouchi spun indignantly on his heels to face Kaiba, who was now sitting up and staring out over the sea with a smirk on his lips.  
  
"What do you want, Kaiba?" he huffed.  
  
"To push your buttons, what else? Because I'm the only one who can," he added.  
  
"Eh, you don't bother me," Jonouchi retorted. Kaiba looked up at him, an eyebrow slightly raised.  
  
"So why are you quivering as if you're dying to punch my lights out?"  
  
"..."  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
"Why can't you ever just leave me alone?" Jonouchi asked exasperatedly.  
  
"Because it's like I said - I can get to you, so I do. Besides, you're the one who followed me here."  
  
"I did *not* follow you - I come here all the time. You just happened to pick the same night I did. Why are *you* here, anyway? Don't you have a super-rich company to run?"  
  
Kaiba chuckled darkly. "Despite what you think, I'm not a machine that can sit in front of a computer 24/7 without losing my mind...or at least experiencing chronic fatigue, not to mention extremely sore eyes. I come here to relax. You?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why do you come here?" asked Kaiba again, twisting around to face Jonouchi.  
  
"To...get away. When home gets a little hectic."  
  
"Does this happen often?"  
  
"I...huh?"  
  
"Are you beaten often?"  
  
"Kaiba, how..."  
  
"Please, puppy. I know. You're not the only one." Jonouchi stared in shock for a moment letting Kaiba's words sink in. He sank to his knees and sat down on the ground a few feet from the other boy.   
  
"It was the reason my parents got divorced," the blonde began. "At first mom told us he was upset because he lost his job, and that he would get better, but it only got worse. He started drinking and he would have tantrums all the time. It got so bad that my mom had to take Shizuka away so dad wouldn't beat her, too. I miss her so much but I would rather I never see her again than see her hurt by that monster." Kaiba was staring at the water again. When he began to speak his voice was soft and monotone, like someone bored with being sad.  
  
"My mother died giving birth to Mokuba when I was five, and my father was killed in a car crash three years later. Our relatives took all my inheritance and sent me and Mokuba to live in an orphanage. I thought it was bad waiting to be adopted, but I almost wish we never were. One day the CEO of Kaiba Corp., Gozaburo Kaiba, came to adopt a son. I challenged him to a game of chess, on the condition that he would adopt us both if I won. Needless to say, I beat him. He was shocked but impressed and he took us home that day.   
  
"Life with Gozaburo was nothing short of hell. He beat me, but the worst of it was the studying - day and night, non-stop. I thought I was going to die of exhaustion. I also knew I couldn't fight back because if I did he might hurt Mokuba, or worse - separate us and send him back to the orphanage. It was a risk I couldn't take." He finished his story and was silent. There was a pain in his eyes that spoke all too loudly to Jonouchi.  
  
"You know, Kaiba," said the blonde after a moment, "we seem to have a lot in common." Kaiba looked at him with deep, unreadable eyes, and nodded slowly. Somehow the two had come to be sitting much closer to one another than when the conversation started.  
  
"This does not mean I will stop bothering you," said Kaiba firmly. A smile flickered across Jonouchi's lips.  
  
"You know what? I don't think I mind," he said. He leaned in slowly and gazed into Seto's eyes for a moment before gently brushing their lips together. The brunette responded by pushing back ever so slightly. After a few seconds they parted and both turned back to the sea. The moon had risen even higher, its pale shadow dancing on the waves like crystal tears.  
  
"Good," replied Seto, his voice barely a whisper, "Because you'll always be my puppy." And like that they fell asleep, leaning lightly on each other under the bright full moon.  
  
~Fin. 


End file.
